


Sirensong

by bluewishdust



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/F, Quiet is a mermaid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 17:47:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15913212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluewishdust/pseuds/bluewishdust
Summary: Flaming Buffalo is convinced that pirates are the most dangerous thing in the world, but then she becomes one of them and encounters a mermaid.





	Sirensong

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted anything in /a while/ but I've had this thing lying around for just as long so I decided to finally post it... I still love this AU idea a lot, so I hope you like it. Let me know what you think!
> 
> My friend made some artwork to fit this story, please go check it out [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15711312/chapters/36517719) and [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15711312/chapters/36520344#workskin) and tell her that she did amazing.

“Pirates are no better than wild animals,” her mother used to say.

“If pirates capture us, the only thing left to do is hoping for a quick death…” was the phrase the admiral had always used to describe the dangers of this job, every time they went to sea.

“This is the end,” a fellow sailor had whispered, as they had discovered a ship on the horizon, a ship bearing black sails. 

She was the only one of her crew left alive. The ship she used to work on was in flames. The rough wooden planks under her knees belonged to the huge ship she had been taken to. She was surrounded by pirates.

“You have a choice to make,” a slender man in a particularly fancy coat stated, “We won’t force you to anything.” His hair was light and framed his face in thin strains, his eyes were sharp and blue and almost too beautiful to belong to a man. His belt was stocked with revolvers. 

She didn’t really understand what he wanted from her, her ears still ringing from the noises of war. 

“You can stay here… and work for us,” he continued, “Or you we will set you free…” He gestured towards the open ocean, the burning ship wreck, the certain death. “It’s you decision, boy.”

 Getting mistaken for a boy was something she was used to. Her harsh face, her uncombed hair, bound into a sloppy ponytail, her rough hands and outworn uniform- none of it made her seem like a lady. “I’m not a boy,” she whispered, her voice sounding shaky and hoarse.

 The crowd of pirates started to murmur. The man only made a sound of amusement. “Well… That changes nothin’ about my offer,” he said.

 Die for the crown or become a pirate, she thought. One of the options was honorable. The other one much easier to take.

 “I’ll take it…” she said, remembering to hold up her chin, to not show weakness, “I’ll join the crew.”

The man nodded contently. “Good choice,” he stated, “My name is Ocelot. I’m the First Mate on this ship and I’ll be the one to inform you about your duties once you’re officially part of the crew… What’s your name?”

She still had a hard time processing what was happening. Before she could speak the man in front of her, Ocelot, made a weird gesture with his hand to keep her from talking. “You know what? Whatever it was… forget it,” he said, “Tell me the name of your ship instead. The one you used to serve on.”

 “The ship was called The Buffalo,” she answered, forcing herself to speak up, putting all the pride she had left into this sentence.

 The man smirked. “Then we shall call you Buffalo from now on… Flaming Buffalo.” She closed her eyes for a moment and swallowed hard. The crowd behind him laughed and cheered.

 “Don’t you guys have work to do?” Ocelot called, “You can get to know her later… Now we need to sail on.”

As the crowd around them was dissolving he turned back towards her.

“It’s time for you to meet the Captain,” he said and offered his hand to her. Flaming Buffalo took it and stood up.

…………

The Captain’s quarters were located at the other end of the ship. She followed the First Mate quietly, absorbing the things around her with wide eyes. A pirate ship. Her new home. Maybe this was the absolute worst thing that had happened to her so far. But she lived. She was unharmed. And the way Ocelot chatted with her didn’t make her feel like that was about to change. Still she stayed on alert.

When they passed a man with dirty blonde hair and a wooden leg Ocelot’s chattering stopped.

“One?” the man snarled at him in a rather unfriendly tone, “You only managed to take one alive? You know how badly we need more hands on deck.” His face was awfully handsome, but the frown on it seemed permanent. Flaming Buffalo fled the gaze of his light eyes which were hidden behind fair lashes.

Ocelot got to a halt in front of him. “Well she has two of them,” he remarked and comradely patted her shoulder, “And we’ll find a good use for her.” The other man didn’t reply for a moment, his gaze only seemed to get colder. Flaming Buffalo realized only now that one of his sleeves was empty.

“A woman?” he spat out, as if ignoring Flaming Buffalo’s presence, “You think it was a good idea to bring a woman on board?”

The First Mate shrugged. “As you said, we can really use new crew members,” he reminded his scowling companion.

The blond man snorted. “Then go… tell the Captain if you please,” he countered and turned around, ending the conversation.

Ocelot continued his walk and Flaming Buffalo followed. “That was Master Miller,” he explained as soon as they were out of hearing distance, “He is the Quartermaster, and as much as I hate to say it, probably one of the people most important for the welfare of this ship. If you want to lead an easy life here, the most important rule might be not to cross him.”

Flaming Buffalo nodded grimly. Didn’t seem like this was going to be easy.

They finally reached what seemed to be the Captain’s quarters and Ocelot knocked before entering.

The man they found inside had so many scars that his face was barely recognizable. He wore an eyepatch and had a hook for his left hand. A huge diamond dangled from his ear. A pirate out of a picture book… in the flesh.

“Captain Venom,” Ocelot greeted him and grinned like a proud school boy, “May I present Flaming Buffalo, our newest… recruit.” Buffalo repressed the urge to salute. This wasn’t a ship in the crowns military after all.

The Captain looked up. Despite his rough appearance his deep voice was soft as he spoke.

“A new recruit, ha?” he simply said, looking at her for a moment, “Welcome on board. I’m the Captain of this ship. In my absence you’ll answer the orders of my First Mate or my Quartermaster...” He turned towards Ocelot. “Has she met Kaz yet?”

“Briefly,” the other man answered, “But for now I’ll be the one to place her on duty… make sure she finds her place in the crew.”

The captain nodded approvingly. Then gestured towards the door, as if to say that they were allowed to go now. He didn’t seem very talkative all in all.

“You are one of us now,” Ocelot said, as soon as they had stepped out of the room, “A Diamond Dog, or a filthy pirate, as others may call us.” He smirked at her.

............. 

During the next weeks Flaming Buffalo slowly but surely got used to her new environment. The work on deck didn’t differ much from what she had been used to and maybe she enjoyed working here even better. The air around the pirate ship tasted a lot more like freedom.

The men around her were tough guys with sun burned faces and uncombed hair, with dirty laughs and tattooed arms, but Buffalo had lived among soldiers for long enough to not find it terrible. All in all everyone was treating her better than she would have expected and after some time nobody made a fuss about the fact that she was a woman anymore. They had learned that she was just as capable.

Even Master Miller had stopped glaring at her, as soon as he had figured that she was a strong and reliable worker. Flaming Buffalo now knew that he was also in charge of cooking and the meals he provided for the crew were better than anything else she had ever eaten on the high seas.

One of the things she liked best about being a pirate was the fact that she wasn’t required to stick to a strict dress-code anymore. Furthermore she didn’t miss standing around, her back straight, saluting to anyone who was higher in rank.

By now she was only worried about one thing. They hadn’t encountered another ship so far and Flaming Buffalo wasn’t sure, if she would be able to keep up the pirate act when fighting merchants or soldiers of the crown. She suppressed the memories of her old comrades, who were dead and gone, and of her mother back home, who she might never see again.

…………………

One sunny day Flaming Buffalo was chatting with Pequod, the Sailing Master, when something on deck suddenly caused huge turmoil. Men were shouting, yelling at each other and everyone was running towards the centre of the ship. Flaming Buffalo did too, curious about what was going on. There was no ship in sight, so it had to be something on board.

When she reached the point where everyone was gathering, she saw that the crew was standing around one of the huge nets they used to catch fish in. The men on fishing duty had brought it in and some of them were now struggling to hold down one huge fish, caught in it.

At first Flaming Buffalo couldn’t see what everyone was getting so upset about, she only saw glimpses of a wiggling fin and wet scales, glinting in the sun.

But when the crowd parted for a moment she could get a better look at the scene. And then she realized, that the fish caught in the net wasn’t a fish at all.

It was a mermaid.

In midst of the pirates there was a supernatural creature with a slick, wet body, pale skin and surprisingly plain, brownish hair.

As Flaming Buffalo’s knees grew weak upon seeing the most beautiful thing her eyes had ever met, the mermaid started singing. And that was the moment when hell broke loose.

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't looked at the artwork that goes with this AU - do it now! :D [x](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15711312/chapters/36517719) [x](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15711312/chapters/36520344#workskin)


End file.
